Step On: the week’s best new music tracks [Apr 24]

New Boots editor Phil Moore takes you weekly through ten of the best new music tracks.

Alfie Templeman ‘Happiness In Liquid Form’From rural Bedfordshire comes the 17 year-old bedroom-pop sensation. He clearly lives in a technicolour bubble; at least that’s the impression this song gives you. And right now that sounds like the best place to be. This puts those “lo-fi indie” tags to bed, as this widescreen, play-on-daytime radio wonky guitar-funk workout is going to produce some serious body-popping across the nation. Your at-home festival has itself a breakout star.

Happyness ‘Ouch [yup]’The London duo are on the comeback trail, previewing tracks off their upcoming third LP. The 1990s alt-rock vibing guys are a joyous riot of brightly distorted guitar and artful lyrics about just about everything your furloughed brain could daydream about. That jittery guitar solo could be off of Generation Terrorists too, which is the icing on the cake.

Dream Wife ‘Hasta La Vista’The London trio’s new single might be their best work yet. Hypnotic-pop that’s driven by singer Rakel Mjöll’s exquisite vocal, given plentiful space to soar and draw you in. Props to them also for making forthcoming sophomore album So When You Gonna… produced, engineered, and mixed by an all-female team. Action > Sentiment.

Superlove ‘Circles’This Bristol fuzz-rock trio have touches of pop-punk and metal in them, and they also embrace all the trapping of modern electronica to add a new sheen to their well-crafted, expertly produced songs. This one’s a bit different – a Post Malone cover that takes the original and adds layers of dirty guitar filth on top to make it their own. The chorus is a weighty beast too. Work those neck muscles!

Empyre ‘Drive’MTV Unplugged vibes from the [usually] hard rockers, with a nicely turned-in video filmed in Vintage Retreat‘s Retro Room. Their acoustic side allows them reinterpret, reimagine, rearrange their grungey tendencies into something more earthy, and it certainly highlights their vocal prowess. Alice In Chains fans will lap this up, as should everyone.

The Big Dirty ‘Dirty Rider’“You’re just a love machine/I wanna ride you”. They’re back!! A couple of years on from when we last heard the sex rock doyens, and they sound louder, harder, and sexier than ever. Riffs by AC-DC, clothes designed by Joe Exotic – you’ll either love this care-free lot, or be dead inside. Your choice! There’s a nice UK-based resurgence at the moment for ‘real rock’, and these undesirables are rightly at the forefront. Become a dirty rider before society crumbles!

Andy Crofts and Le SuperHomard ‘Forevermore’Le SuperHomard is Montepellier-based Christophe Vaillant, who specialises in lush ’60s-style orchestral-pop. Hopping into bed with The Moons/Weller man for this unique collaboration was a superb choice. Andy’s rich, melancholic tone perfectly suits the song’s romantic leanings. It will have you proposing marriage to your nearest and dearest before it’s even finished. If this is to resemble the sound of Andy’s solo career then I for one cannot wait for more.

Crawlspaces ‘Primrose’Northants emo types have finally released their debut single, and it’s a strong beginning. ‘Pop-punk’ doesn’t feel enough of a definition to cover what’s going on here. It rises and falls like the best of them, with Sam Morrison’s voice giving it plenty of depth, whilst the lads bring the fireworks around him. The chorus is an absolute monster; untamable. An exciting future awaits.

Jay Orosz ‘Do It Better’Another week, another Harlz production! Lot of vocoder used by this amorous Northampton rapper. As previously heard guesting on Weirdoe’s ‘Diana’ a few months back, its his time for the spotlight. A confident debut single, hopefully there’s more to come.

Props ‘Easy’Wellingborough/London bedroom pop to finish off this week. The quiet bedroom beats of 2019 releases have been given the boot in favour of scratchy guitar verse and a dancefloor chorus. It as excellent as those previous numbers, endorphin-rush feel and all. It’s deserving of a much wider audience, so do check out all his wonky pop manoeuvres.